Mini - Pool

While shopping this week my mom found this pool on clearance. She decided to buy it and Easton spent Friday afternoon with her getting it ready. This above photo is what we saw when we pulled in my parent's driveway to pick him up.

Easton and Grandma

I know the pool is full of toys, but I still think we need one of those floating coolers for our sodas!

Easton in his submarine.

Jaylee and Mom

Brady was pretty brave in the water. We might have a swimmer in the family.

Jaylee really enjoyed the water. She was completely relaxed and looking good!

Mom and Boys

All Grown Up

When Riley and I first started dating his little sister Melanie was only 10 years old. Now she is all grown up and getting married! We were able to be with her when she went to the temple for the first time. We are all so proud and excited for her!

The Happy Couple

Brandon is a good guy and we are enjoying getting to know him better.

It was just about 10 years ago that Riley and I were engaged and going to the temple. Time does go by fast, but it has been a great 10 years.

Dax and Jaylee got to come with everyone to the temple, since they are both still attached to their mom's milk. Here they are snoozing while the rest of us are eating dinner.

Dax enjoyed trying to get Jaylee's toes!

Random Shots from the Past Few Weeks

I gave the boys their coloring stuff to entertain them while I got some laundry going. When I got back up the stairs five minutes later, this is what I found! They thought they were pretty hilarious...

Easton and Brady can be either the best of friends or worst rivals. I often find them sharing this chair when I let them watch cartoons. Pretty cute!

Gibb Girls

Brady

Jaylee is practicing wearing yellow to get ready for Melanie's wedding!

True Country Boy

Blankets

Jaylee has been given several handmade blankets. I wanted to take a few pictures of them. From left to right, they are from: Dawn (my good friend from Cincinnati), Emily (Jaylee's aunt), Nana, Melanie (Jaylee's aunt), and Lori (another good friend). We have really appreciated all of these thoughtful gifts!

This is the blanket that Nana made. She cross-stitched the whole thing. Pretty impressive, right? She said that she has been saving this pattern for years waiting on Riley and I to have a daughter.

A Baby Blessing

Riley gave our sweet girl her baby blessing today. It was a great day for our family of five. We are so lucky to have a righteous priesthood holder leading our home. (How many years will it be until all of our kids cooperate for a family picture??)

Brandon, Papa, Riley, Grandpa, Curtis, and Jared (not pictured) were in the blessing circle. We are lucky to have so many family members who could be here for her.

The Proud Parents and Grandparents

Jaylee's Blessing Dress

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always dreamed about having a handmade blessing dress for my daughter. I wanted it big, long, and shiny! When I was finally pregnant with a little girl I told my mom about this and she got started. When I was six months pregnant my mom and I went shopping for fabric and I told her how I wanted it to look. My mom created the most amazing and beautiful blessing dress for Jaylee. I love it! She did such a great job and also made a bonnet and shoes to go along with it.

Aunt Shayla came over and did a photo shoot of Jaylee wearing her dress. The pictures on this post are some of my favorite from the day.

Jaylee was mad when we took this picture but it shows off the dress good so I am posting it anyway.

Beautiful Girl

I told my mom that I wanted the dress to hang to Riley's knees while he was blessing her. She made that happen!

Riley's mom embroidered these slippers that my mom made for her. (Well actually my mom's friend Pam stepped in to help her get these finished on time. Pam is a seamstress and gave my mom advice through the whole dress building process.) Both slippers have her first initial on the toes and one slipper has her date of birth on the bottom.

A pretty picture that Shayla took.

Our New House

We found a great little farmhouse to rent! We found out about from a friend of my parents and we were able to get it. I am loving this house. We are in the country surrounded by fields and we have a huge yard. There are two big barns on the property that are used by the farmers who farm the fields owned by our landlord. We now have 4 bedrooms and a basement, so I have a lot more space. The only thing I miss having is a dishwasher. I do have a good view from my kitchen window, so that helps with all of my dishwashing!

backyard

The thunder and lightning storms have been amazing this summer. We can see, hear, and even feel them coming from miles away. It is really cool to watch.

I even have a clothesline! I have always wanted one, so I am out there all of the time hanging up my clothes. You can also see the large garden in the picture. My dad planted it for us before we moved in and we are starting to see the beginnings of corn and beans. I hope to learn more about gardening this winter so I can fill up both of these garden plots next spring.

more backyard

side yard

This is the side view of the house.

...and this is what happens to your bathtub when you raise little boys in the country. We were only outside for a half an hour and this is the mess I got. I was at a church meeting awhile ago and a woman gave a talk and in it she mentioned that she always hated all of the dirt in her house. Then one day she realized that 'dirt means her kids are having fun, and dirt means her kids are spending time with their dad, and dirt means her kids are learning to work.' I loved that, especially because one of the reasons we decided to move here was so that we could raise our kids in the country and that they would learn to work hard.

These last two pictures are from moving day. We didn't want to pay for a U-haul, so both of our dads brought their trucks and trailers over to Cincinnati and helped pack us up. They packed an amazing amount of stuff onto this flatbed trailer!